


will's christmas present, and his second one

by xoxkimmiexox



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Christmas Party, Fluff, M/M, Will is oblivious, as usual, byler, everyone else is like briefly mentioned, mike pining, mike wheeler - Freeform, so cute, will byers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-16 03:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20184196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xoxkimmiexox/pseuds/xoxkimmiexox
Summary: Nothing puts Will in the Christmas spirit more than the Wheelers' party when he comes to visit.Except... Mike is acting really weird, but not in a bad way?





	will's christmas present, and his second one

**Author's Note:**

> enjoy this small one-shot about will visiting for the holidays with his family and mike's family throwing a christmas party :)

Will sat on the basement floor, legs crossed, and grin plastered upon his face. Happiness radiated off the scene before him, as he watched Lucas kiss Max on the cheek, and her eyes lit up. His group of friends and had all come together for a Christmas Eve party at the Wheeler house, as Karen Wheeler had openly accepted to be hostess. And considering the delightful pine scent in the atmosphere, the warm fire, and delicious food, the mother had done well. Everyone was laughing and smiling, all having a joyous time. Will felt safe, comforted, and most of all… home. He had gotten to choose the next Christmas movie for the party to watch, and he gleefully suggested A Christmas Carol. There was one thing off though, something he couldn’t explain. As Will tore his eyes off the couple before him, he slowly turned over to face the night’s mystery. As expected, Mike Wheeler was staring at Will. As Mike made eye contact, Will swore a blush made its way onto his face as Mike looked away. It wasn’t the first time that had happened today. Will had caught Mike staring at him multiple times, and it appeared that no matter how many times Mike’s actions were revealed, he wouldn’t stop. Will looked back to the gift exchange occurring, and thought about all the other things that had happened leading up to that moment. 

***

When Will had first arrived, Mike wasted no time to hug him first. Will, Eleven, and his family barely had their feet through the door before Mike engulfed him. It was a hug that felt starved, desperate. As if being put before Eleven wasn’t already a surprise, the way Mike held WIll and brought him closer was enough to shock the boy right there and then. When Will finally felt like it was the appropriate time to pull away, Mike had fumbled over his words, struggling to put together a coherent sentence. It was confusing but all the more entertaining for the Byers boy. 

“I… I missed you, Will.” Mike finally muttered, low enough just for Will to hear. Will turned his head to see where Eleven had gone, his eyes landing on her in the arms of her redheaded friend. Will let out a dreamy sigh, returning his gaze to Mike. Mike’s words rang through his ears, words that he never thought would mean anything. Will pictured Mike missing Eleven, not him. But his words said otherwise, making Will’s heart speed up. 

“I missed you too, Mike.” He said bashfully. A smile crept onto Mike’s lips, and as the others came to greet him, it never faltered. 

***

After greetings and welcomes, everyone split up into doing their own thing. The adults found a home in the dining room, sipping wine and conversing. Nancy and Jonathan hung out in the kitchen, and Will and his friends sat in the basement. They were playing a game of Twister, Mike and Lucas currently on the mat. Dustin was calling out the directions, laughing inbetween turns because in his words, “You guys look so stupid!” 

Lucas was having a lot of fun, smirking as he moved with ease. Mike on the other hand, looked far too determined for such a silly game. He kept mumbling about wanting to win, and badly. Lucas simply made a joke out of it, with Max building on the teasing. Unfortunately, Mike didn’t get what he wanted for once. When he was told to move his right hand to a blue dot, Mike slipped due to the difficult instructions. Lucas hollered with laughter, calling himself the king of twister. 

“Good job, Lucas!” Will smiled and gave Lucas a high five. 

Lucas was overly happy though, as he ignored the high five and pulled Will in for a hug instead. Will simply accepted the gesture and hugged him back. Over Lucas’ shoulder, Will noticed Mike pouting at the scene before him. Will was taken aback, no one could be pouting over losing to Twister, that was overly dramatic. And when Lucas pulled away from the hug and took Dustin in while singing his own triumph song, Mike looked away from Will and at the ground. Will felt like he was supposed to be getting something, but ignored the feeling. 

***

After the games, the party simmered down. The teens sat on the couch and snacked on the occasional treats Nancy or Jonathan would bring down for them. Soon the conversation steered in the direction of school. Eleven was talking to everyone, explaining how things were now due to the absence of her powers. She briefly spoke about what a good teacher Will was, helping her catch up on school material. The compliment brought up a giggle from Will, who was flattered. He went to deny the statement but was cut off. 

“Yeah, well, Will’s always been one of the smartest out of all of us,” Mike announced. It was random, unnecessary in a sense. Everyone else must have felt the same awkwardness as Will because before anyone replied, there was a beat of silence. Mike seemed undisturbed though, letting his statement stand forth proudly. The heightened attention made Will nervous, and after a few seconds, everyone began to agree with Mike. 

“Thanks, guys.” Will chuckled, letting his eyes linger a bit longer on Mike. Will didn’t consider himself one of the smartest of the group, they were all intelligent. But the comment still boosted his self-esteem a bit, miraculously. 

After a few minutes had gone by, bouncing from topic to topic, Will felt a tap on his shoulder. 

“You know… You look really nice tonight.” Mike’s voice was soft, his words caught Will by surprise yet again. Not just because it was from Mike, but it was rare for anyone besides his mother to compliment his appearance. Matching Mike’s gentle tone, Will meant to accept the compliment but failed. 

“I don’t really think so… I forgot to plan out a good outfit for tonight…” Will tugged at his pale yellow sweater, referencing it. It was true, Will had spent so much time helping Eleven get ready (willingly) that he had forgotten about himself. He had settled for a pair of dark wash high rise jeans and a yellow pullover as previously stated of a yellow hue. The other boy’s outfit differed. Mike had a pair of khakis on, paired with a striped t-shirt. To top it off, he had added a black bomber jacket, it was a new style. Will wouldn’t admit it out loud, but Mike was the one who looked really nice tonight. 

“No, no. I really do think you look good.” Mike insisted. Will searched for some sort of pity in Mike’s eye, some sort of indication that his words weren’t from the heart. All Will saw was a glimmer of adoration, this made Will’s heart sting. He chose to ignore the unspoken tension between the two, and just gave Mike a smile. 

“Thank you, Mike.” 

It seemed to be as if Mike was going to say something else, but he was interrupted before he even began. Eleven had grabbed Will’s wrist, pulling him to his feet. A playful expression danced upon her face, leaking into an enthusiastic smile. Will was nervous about what was to come next. 

“Max put on the Girls Just Wanna Have Fun track! We love this song! Sing with me?” 

For a second, Will was in an indescribable state of embarrassment. There was a part of him that wanted to deny that he had ever even listened to the song and that he would never sing along to such a feminine song. But a deeper part of him ached to sing with Eleven, perhaps even Max. A part of him wanted to have fun, despite how… gay it would make him look. After the internal dispute, Will nodded at Eleven and returned her excitement. His friends were never ones to make fun of him, he had even thought about coming out to them. But it was too soon, Will wasn’t ready. He hoped his little performance with El wouldn’t give it away itself. 

Before he knew it, Will was dancing around with Max and Eleven, singing along, and giggling. Dustin and Lucas shouted out lines here and there, surprising Will by knowing anything besides the chorus. When Will didn’t hear Mike’s voice for a while, he turned to see what the boy was doing. 

Mike was looking straight at Will, with a foolish grin on display for everyone to see. Mike’s eyes were wide with awe, and Will felt his face get hot. He didn’t want to assume anything, but it was obvious that if Mike were to stare any longer, he would start to drool. Luckily, the song was ending soon anyways. Will let out one last line, then collapsed into a group hug with his girls. 

“I didn’t know I was attending a concert?” Dustin joked, putting a confused face on.

“Me either? When did I buy the tickets?” Lucas played along. 

Their comments threw Eleven and Max into yet another fit of giggles, they told the two that it was even better than a concert. Will gave himself the dare of looking back at Mike, and he did so. 

Mike was still looking at him, and after a moment's hesitation, he breathlessly said, “Yeah… even better than a concert.” 

Will pretended like he didn’t hear it, but he couldn’t hide the smile that made its way to his face. 

***

A Christmas Carol played on the television, as Eleven passed around the bowl of popcorn. Will was brought back to reality and remembered where he was. He wanted to kick himself for thinking so much about everything that had happened with Mike, that he had missed the first two minutes of the movie. He pushed those thoughts aside and grabbed a handful of popcorn. 

***

They were about thirty minutes into the movie, and about 20 remarks telling Dustin to stop commenting on everything had been made. Every time someone told him to shut up, Will couldn’t help but laugh. They all knew Dustin wasn’t going to quiet down soon, but they still tried. At some point in the movie, Will felt a nudge in his side. 

“Come with me, I’ve got something to show you,” Mike whispered, beginning to stand up. Will didn’t want to miss anything from the movie, but Mike sounded urgent. So as quietly as possible, Will stood up from where was previously sitting on the floor. Max noticed them leaving, but didn’t say anything as she turned back to the movie. Mike didn’t say much as he led them out of the basement, and straight upstairs. Will took this as a sign to not say anything either, so he kept quiet. But when they had gotten to Mike’s room and there was still a blanket of silence between the two, Will finally broke.

“What did you have to show me?” He asked. Will looked around the room, it looked was neater than usual. Mike must have cleaned it up recently. It didn’t make much sense though, considering Mike never cleaned his room. Everyone knew Mike didn’t mind there to be a mess where he slept, Will on the other hand, enjoyed a cleaner environment. 

“Well… I know we’re supposed to do it later but I didn’t think I could wait…” Mike kneeled down beside his bed, reaching underneath it. What he pulled out made Will’s heart flutter. In his hands was a nicely wrapped present, with a blue bow on top. Will could tell just by looking at it that Mike hadn’t wrapped it himself. Mike must have noticed what was running through Will’s mind because he chuckled and spoke again.

“I tried to wrap it myself, to like… impress you or whatever,” Will’s mind lingered on the idea of Mike trying to do something for him, “But I failed horribly. Got Nancy to wrap it instead, she even added the bow. Isn’t that cool?” 

“Yeah, it’s a nice blue.” Will felt like an absolute dork complimenting the bow, but he was at a loss of words. Mike didn’t have to get him a present, and he especially didn’t have to go to the means of wrapping it. Mike never tried to wrap anyone’s presents. “Thank you, Mike.”

Mike chuckled and brought his hand to the back of his neck. An indication of nervousness, WIll thought. “You don’t get to thank me yet, you haven’t even opened it!”

Will nodded and began delicately unwrapping the gift. Before him was an art kit, filled with colored pencils and sketching ones. Had it been any kit, Will would have been thankful. But it had been a specific one, an expensive one, that WIll had wanted for months. He didn’t bring it up too often though, maybe mentioned it once or twice. So as he traced his finger along the packaging, he filled with shock. 

“How’d you remember I wanted this? Oh my god…” 

Mike sat down on his bed and looked at the ground sheepishly, “I pay attention to you, Will. Always have.” 

He didn’t mean to, he really didn’t, but Will couldn’t control the scoff he let out. Mike’s words contradicted his actions for months prior to Will moving, when he had been all over Eleven. They had broken up sometime between the move and the Christmas Eve party, but Mike’s behavior was still something that happened. “You didn’t pay much attention to me when you were with El…” 

Mike groaned, letting out a sigh. “I know. And I’m really sorry about that. I was a complete asshole and you never even got to hear me apologize, so I’m saying it now.” 

It was simple but self-aware. So Will accepted his apology. “It’s a few months late now, Wheeler. But I’ll take it.” 

Mike laughed and shook his head, “I really am sorry, Will.” 

“Hey… it’s okay. You’re just a teen boy, it’s basically expected.” 

Mike smiled, “Get used to it, because you’re this teen boy’s best friend.” 

Will simply rolled his eyes and returned to look at the present, baffled once again. 

“The day you said you wanted it, I wrote it down somewhere. I kept track of its price and saved up on the side.” 

Will didn’t tear his vision from the gift in his hands, “But why?” 

Will didn’t get a response, instead, he got a Mike who looked at him with big puppy eyes. Will’s gut knew what that meant, but he needed further confirmation. So Will slowly made his way to Mike’s bed, and sat down next to him.

He repeated himself, “Why?” 

“Because I like showing I care,” Mike answered simply, it was a hollowed-out reply, like the surfaced version. Will took a risk and pressed firmer on the topic. 

“Is that it?”

The room went quiet, all the noise from the party beneath the two boys being muffled. The room felt like a bubble, something like their own world. Mike must have felt the same safety because he finally continued to speak. 

“Because you matter to me. Because I care that you get what you want for Christmas, and that you know I’ve missed you, that I get to be the one to hug you and impress you by winning some stupid party game. I care that you get to know you look good and all of that. And… and…” 

Will swallowed nervously, his insides feeling like bundles of nerves. His eyes bounced from one attribute on Mike’s face to the next anxiously. He looked at how Mike’s eyes glimmered in this lighting, and how his freckles laid upon his skin. And lastly, he looked at how soft and gentle Mike’s lips looked. 

“And… what?” Will whispered unintentionally, his heart racing to such an extent he hoped Mike wouldn’t hear it, 

“And I care that you know I like you.” 

All night people had been grabbing Will and pulling him into things. Mike pulling him into a hug when he had arrived, Eleven pulling him up to dance, Lucas pulling him into his victory celebration. All were completely okay, Will found happiness in all the actions. But his favorite by far of the night, was at that moment. When Mike laid his hand on Will’s cheek, and slowly pulled him into their kiss. 

It wasn’t fireworks, or explosions. There was no fire of desire that got put out. It was home. It was safety and adoration, like a warm blanket and a reassuring hug. Mike’s lips were as soft as previously assumed, and his thumb caressed Will’s cheek in a way that made time stop. It took a second for Will to kiss back, primarily because a boy he had been secretly crushing on for years was kissing him, and secondly because the said boy was Will’s first kiss. But when he finally realized that even though this was Mike, it was also his best friend. Everything was always okay with his best friend. Will kissed Mike back, following in the same pattern of his movements. After a bit of time, Mike finally pulled away. The ball was in Will’s court, him kissing back could have meant anything, what really mattered was what he’d say to Mike. 

“You tried to impress me with winning twister?” Will realized with a laugh. 

Mike simply rolled his eyes and brought Will in for another kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed!!  
leave a comment with your thoughts!!


End file.
